Seiko 5

[RizzoTheRat]

Anyone know how long it takes a Seiko 5 to get fully wound up in normal use? I'd probably only be wearing it at work so wondering if it would build up enough power to keep running through the weekend if it's only worn for 8-9 hours a day all week.
Might well just end up with a cheap quartz but I do quite like the look of the Seiko 5 sports range.

[DeWar]

They don’t all have the same movement but I don’t think any would have a power reserve greater than 48 hours (and I’d imagine most would be nearer 40 hours) so even fully wound the watch would be dead by Sunday afternoon.

Also assuming work is “desk jockey” and not “Mo Farah’s pacemaker” then it’s very unlikely you’d ever wind the mainspring to full power anyway without manually winding the thing.

[RizzoTheRat]

Thanks, thought that might be the case. Quartz it is then.

[walamai]

"Seiko 5" covers dozens of different watches with a few different movements. I think all of the various movements (7s26, 4R36 etc) seem to be around ~41 hour reserve.

So yep, safe to say if you took off the average 'Seiko 5' on a Friday evening it wouldn't be running on Monday morning.

Quartz doesn't have to be cheap and nasty. If it's the Seiko 5 'Sports' you were looking at then you might like https://www.scurfawatches.com/ as a quartz alternative. Kinda of similar styled divers with a few different colours and bracelet options and around the same price point. He does a couple of autos now, but most of the 'diver ones' are quartz.

[Barchettaman]

DeWar said:

....it’s very unlikely you’d ever wind the mainspring to full power anyway without manually winding the thing.

You can’t manually wind the movement in the 5, other than by shaking it Gareth Hunt style.

[aka_kerrly]

walamai said:

"Seiko 5" covers dozens of different watches with a few different movements. I think all of the various movements (7s26, 4R36 etc) seem to be around ~41 hour reserve.

So yep, safe to say if you took off the average 'Seiko 5' on a Friday evening it wouldn't be running on Monday morning.
.

I have a couple of Fives, the one I'm wearing as a daily, a SNK793 behaves exactly like that. It has the rather common relatively low end 7s26 automatic Mechanism with no need to wind.

It loses about 2-3min per 24hr but allowing for me rarely wearing it at weekends it's reset at least once a week.

[RizzoTheRat]

Think I want something a bit less chunky than a diver. This was more type I was looking at.

https://www.creationwatches.com/products/seiko-aut...

I hadn't realised they had different mechanisms under the same model name, rather confusing.

[RizzoTheRat]

aka_kerrly said:

It loses about 2-3min per 24hr but allowing for me rarely wearing it at weekends it's reset at least once a week.

Is that much error common for automatics? Definitely pushing me towards a quartz then, I'm way to used to my garmin that is always accurate even if it does need charging every few days.

[aka_kerrly]

Truth be told i think it can be improved and many other seiko owners don't experience the same degree of loss.

I also got mine from Creation! Ive had it several years since first seeing the sub £50 watch thread on here!!! It's gone from a office only watch to daily it does the job watch with a touch of class haha, I literally bought it because it's day/date, automatic and I love the blue dial..

A word of warning, Creation makes it very hard to have just one watch..

[Barchettaman]

aka_kerrly said:

I have a couple of Fives, the one I'm wearing as a daily, a SNK793 behaves exactly like that. It has the rather common relatively low end 7s26 automatic Mechanism with no need to wind.

It loses about 2-3min per 24hr but allowing for me rarely wearing it at weekends it's reset at least once a week.

My current 5 sits at +2 secs/day.

I recently sold a 5 dive watch; that was at +8 secs/day.

They are generally pretty good.

[aka_kerrly]

Barchettaman said:

My current 5 sits at +2 secs/day.

I recently sold a 5 dive watch; that was at +8 secs/day.

They are generally pretty good.

Agree this is generally the case. I think mine has had a bump or two an would probably benefit from a tune up as it did retain far better accuracy in the first few years. Trouble is it's just as easy to buy another if it actually packs up.

Thinking about it, for the last couple of years my job involves working on machines that have large magnets in them so perhaps that has messed with my watch.

[Dicky Knee]

Does your budget stretch to this:

https://watchesofmayfair.com/brand/hamilton/all-ha...

Citizen also do some nice watches in that sort of style. Chronograph? (38mm so maybe on the small side)

https://www.hsamuel.co.uk/webstore/d/9600582/citiz...

Or this:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9023545

Or this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizen-Eco-Drive-BM8180-...

[RizzoTheRat]

I do like the look of that Hamilton, but don't think I really want to spend €350 on something I'm only really going to wear at work.

Starting to think cheap Timex Expedition Scout is looking like a reasonable option, but they seem to get a lot of bad reviews for reliability. That last Citizen linked above doesn't look bad, but possibly a bit small, i'm used to a 42mm.

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Monday 29th June 21:09

[Barchettaman]

The Citizen eco drive BM8475 is £95 at Creation, maybe worth a look.

Whenever one of these pops up on the sub-£200 watch thread it seems to garner plenty of positive comments.

I quite like them; bit of a field watch/Explorer vibe going on.

https://www.creationwatches.com/products/citizen-s...

[Dicky Knee]

Wenger also great for the money:

https://www.watchnation.com/product/wenger-attitud...

[RizzoTheRat]

Not so keen on the massive numbers on that Citizen but that Wenger's not bad.

[r159]

I had one of these
https://www.hsamuel.co.uk/webstore/d/9602267/citiz...

It was very nice to wear.

Went for a seiko 5 sports very similar,

https://www.creationwatches.com/products/seiko-aut...

now it’s become a Timex Iq Move multi time


https://www.timex.com/iq-plus-move-multi-time-43mm...

Hanowa Champ is nice to, I have the silver dial version of this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Swiss-Military-Hanowa-C...

Edited by r159 on Monday 29th June 22:05

Edited by r159 on Monday 29th June 22:14

Edited by r159 on Monday 29th June 22:18

[Starfighter]

Barchettaman said:

You can’t manually wind the movement in the 5, other than by shaking it Gareth Hunt style.

Some of the models have hand wind capability. I have a 24 jewel 4r36 caliber and that also hacks. Accuracy is under 10 seconds per 24 hours and the power reserve is around 42 hours.

[Barchettaman]

Starfighter said:

Some of the models have hand wind capability. I have a 24 jewel 4r36 caliber and that also hacks. Accuracy is under 10 seconds per 24 hours and the power reserve is around 42 hours.

Interesting- thanks!

[Your Dad]

Barchettaman said:

The Citizen eco drive BM8475 is £95 at Creation, maybe worth a look.

Whenever one of these pops up on the sub-£200 watch thread it seems to garner plenty of positive comments.

I quite like them; bit of a field watch/Explorer vibe going on.

https://www.creationwatches.com/products/citizen-s...

I've had the fully blacked-out version for a few years now, both models need the strap swapping as the silver buckle ruins the look:

https://www.creationwatches.com/products/citizen-7...

ETA - the 00F version is only £78 too.